Heater assembly for salvaging heat lost with products of combustion



Feb. 11, 1958 s. J. DAMICO ETAL 2,823,026

HEATER ASSEMBLY FOR SALVAGING HEAT LOST WITH PRODUCTS 0F COMBUSTION 2Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 21. 1956 INVENTORS SALVATOZE D'AMICOI ED000180d. M01. I T0/.s,

EDWIN F. #05 EY,

I I I v I B Feb. 11, 1958 s. J. 'AMICO EI'AL 2,823,026

HEATER ASSEMBLY FOR SALVAGING HEAT LOST WITH PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTIONFiled Sept. 21, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOgs 07AM! O, MoL/rae/s,

. Mossy,

HEATER ASSEMBLY FOR SALVAGING HEAT i LOST WITH PRODUCTS or COMBUSTIONSalvatore J. DAmico, Stafford Springs, Edward J. Molitons,Statfordville, and Edwin F. Hosey, Stalford Springs, Conn.

Application September 21, 1956, Serial No. 611,097

4 Claims. 01. 263-20) When heating a building, furnace or the like'with'a United 55w Q combustable material, a great amount of the heat beinggenerated is expended through an exhaust conduit such as a chimney orSmokestack during the process of such generation, this being undesirableand costly. Various typesof equipment have heretofore been proposed forthe purpose of salvaging the aforementioned heat loss, however, nonehave proved satisfactory.

A primary object of invention is to provide'a novel heater assembly foruse on an exhaust conduit for products of combustion wherein some of theheat which normally would be lost is salvaged through novel meanspermitting clean and uncontaminated air to pass externally of the outersurface of the exhaust conduit and to be heated by conduction andconvection and to be ultimately dispensed by means of a force draft.

A further object of invention is more specifically concerned withproviding a novel heater assembly of the character involvedincorporating a jacket member securable in circumposed relationshipabout an intermediate portion of an exhaust stack or conduit forproducts of combustion, said jacket member incorporating spaced innerand outer walls, said inner walls' incorporating an undulated'crosssection providing a plurality of grooves which normally will bejuxtaposed on the outer surface of the exhaust'conduit wherein aircontained therein will be heated, said jacket member incorporating meansfor controlling the entrance of air drawn into said grooves, saidgrooves incorporating-means for communication with a hot-air compartmentformed between the inner and outer walls, and a---fari assemblyin-communication with the hot-air compartment for drawing air throughthe grooves after having been heated by the exhaust conduit, through thehot-air compartment and out of an egress portion of the fan assembly.

And yet a further object of invention in conformance with that set forthis to provide a novel heater assembly of the character involved which isreadily and economically manufactured, easily installed and maintained,and highly practical, serviceable and acceptable for the purposeintended.

These together with other objects and advantages which will subsequentlybecome apparent reside in the details of construction and operation asmore fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals referto like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of the novel heater assembly installed on anintermediate portion of a tubular exhaust conduit such as a Smokestack;

ice

Figure 2 is a side elevation view of Figure 1, looking from the bottomtoward the top thereof;

Figure 3 is a vertical section view taken substantially on line 3-3'of'Figure 1, portions being broken away and shown in section forclarity; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantiallyon line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referringrto the ,drawings in detail, indicated generally at 10 is asection of an exhaust conduit which has clampingly secured onanintermediate portion thereof about its outer periphery a novel heaterassembly 12 constituting the invention.

The heater assembly 12 comprises a jacket member indicated generally at14 incorporating a pair of mating sections or halves indicated generallyat 16 and' 18 for the purpose of simplicity, the jacket member 14'willhave the parts thereof described as an integral construction.

Thejacke't member 14 incorporates an outer wall 20 and inner wall 22disposed in spaced relationship and defining therebetween a hot-aircompartment 24. The jacket member 14 may have the outer wall 20 thereofformed as a plurality of angularly related panels, see Figure 1,providing'a greater area of contact with hot air when compared with a'cylindrical outer wall, for example. .Each of the sections 16 and 18incorporate diametrically opposed longitudinally extending flanges 26and 28, respectively, said flanges 26 and 28 being juxtapositionabl'e oneach. other and incorporating aligned apertures therethrough forreceiving nut and bolt assemblies 30 for retaining the jacket member incircumposed relationship o'n'the'exhaust conduit 10.

The inner wall 22 has a uniformly undulated cross section, see Figure 1,defining a plurality of longitudinally extending open ended grooves 32extending the length thereof and opening away from the hot-air chamber24. Adjacent grooves 32 have extending transversely'through oppositeends thereof notched out portions 34 and 36 at the respective lower andupper ends thereof;

The jacket member 14 incorporates on therespective sections 16 and 18 amating transverse top and bottom wall 38 and 40, respectively, each ofwhich having rotatably supported thereon an annular ring 42,conveniently formed as two sections 44 and 46 joined by means ofjuxtapositio-nable flange portions 48 and 50, respectively, see Figurel, secured by means of suitable nut and bolt assemblies 52. Extendingabout the inner periphery 54 of the rings 42 are a plurality of notchedout portions 56 which are alignable with some of the open ends of thegrooves 32, see Figure 1, for accordingly controlling the amount of airto be drawn within said grooves and subsequently pass into the hot-aircompartment 24. The rings 42, see Figure 1, have conveniently formedtherethrough arcuate slots 58 through which extend-suitable retainingscrews 60 engageable in the bottom or top wall of the jacket member andaccordingly retaining the rings 42 in various positions of adjustment onthe jacket memher.

The outer wall 22 has extending therethrough, see Figure 4, anapertureportion 62 which has circumposed thereon an overlying housing 64 of aconventional suction fan assembly indicated generally at 66. The fanassembly 66 incorporates a suitable power source such as an electricmotor 68 for rotating a squirrel cage type blade assembly 70, thecentral portion of which constituting the ingress portion of the fanassembly, said housing 64 of the fan assembly incorporating an egressconduit 72 in communication with the fan housing 64 for directing heatedair therefrom. Indicated generally at 74 is a conventional thermostatcontrol assembly incorporating a housing portion 76 having extendingtherefrom a thermocouple portion 78 extending into the hot-aircompartment 24, The control assembly 74 may be utilized in the controlsof the heater assembly for activating the fan assembly 66 when thetemperature within the hot-air compartment has attained a particularpredetermined value. 7

Accordingly, air'is drawn through the upper and lower ends of the jacketmember 24 through the grooves 32 of the inner wall of said jacketmember, said air being heated by the exhaust conduit 10, and accordinglyheated air is drawn into the hot-air compartment 24 to subsequently bedispensed by means of the fan assembly 66.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A heater assembly for salvaging'heat from exhaust conduits forproducts of combustion comprising a jacket member including spacedtubular inner and outer walls and a transverse bottom and top wall,means on the jacket member for retaining the jacket member circumposedabout an intermediate portion of an exhaust conduit, the inner and outerwalls defining a hot-air compartment therebetween, the inner wallincluding an undulated cross section providing a plurality of elongated,uninterrupted, open-ended grooves opening away from the hotaircompartment, means on the inner wall providing communication with thehot-air compartment through said grooves, means on the jacket membercontrolling air movement into the grooves, and a fan assembly on'thejacket member including an ingress portion in communication with thehot-air compartment and an egress portion for distributing heated airdrawn from said compartment.

2. A heater assembly for salvaging heat from exhaust conduits forproducts of combustion comprising a jacket member including spacedtubular inner and outer walls and a transverse bottom and top wall,means on the jacket member for retaining the jacket member circumposedabout an intermediate portion of an exhaust conduit, the inner and outerwalls defining a hot-air compartment therebetween, the inner wallincluding an undulated cross section providing a plurality of elongated,uninterrupted, open-ended grooves opening away from the hot-aircompartment, means on the inner wall providing communication with thehot-air compartment through said grooves, means on the jacket membercontrolling air movement into the grooves, and a fan assembly on thejacket member including an ingress portion in communication with thehot-air compartment and an egress portion for distributing heated airdrawn from said compartment, said jacket member comprising a pair ofmating sections including means for clampingly engaging the same aboutan exhaust conduit.

3. A heater assembly for salvaging heat from exhaust conduits forproducts of combustion comprising a jacket member including spacedtubular inner and outer walls and a transverse bottom and top wall,means on the jacket member for retaining the jacket member circumposedabout an intermediate portion of an exhaust conduit, the inner and outerwalls defining a hot-air compartment therebetween, the inner Wallincluding an undulated cross section providing a plurality of elongated,uninterrupted, open-ended grooves opening away from the hot-aircompartment, means on the inner wall providing communication with thehot-air compartment through said grooves, means on the jacket membercontrolling air movement into the grooves, and a fan assembly on thejacket member including an ingress portion in communication with thehot-air compartment and an egress portion for distributing heated airdrawn from said compartment, the grooves being uniformly and radiallyspaced on the inner wall, the means on the inner wall providingcommunication with the hot-air compartment comprising aperturesextending transversely through opposite ends of adjacent grooves on theinner wall, said means controlling air movement into the groovescomprising annular rings rotatably mounted on the top and bottom wallsof the jacket member, said rings including intermediate notch portionson the inner periphery thereof alignable with the open ends of certaingrooves for permitting air to be drawn into the hot-air compartmentadjacent the outer surface of an exhaust conduit upon which the jacketmember is disposed.

4. A heater assembly for salvaging heat from exhaust conduits forproducts of combustion comprising a jacket member including spacedtubular inner and outer walls and a transverse bottom and top wall,means on the jacket member for retaining the jacket member circumposedabout an intermediate portion of an exhaust conduit, the inner and outerwalls defining a hot-air compartment therebetween, the inner wallincluding an undulated cross section providing a plurality of elongated,uninterrupted, open-ended grooves opening away from the hot-aircompartment, means on the inner wall providing communication with thehot-air compartment through said grooves, means on the jacket membercontrolling air movement into the grooves, and a fan assembly on thejacket member including an ingress portion in communication with thehot-air compartment and an egress portion for distributing heated airdrawn from said compartment, and thermostatic control means on thejacket member inuluding. a heat responsive end portion disposed in thehot-air compartment for controlling operation of the fan assembly inresponse to temperature changes in the hot-air compartment.

No references cited.

